Monday, September 26, 2011

Cream Puff Dessert

We had such a great time last weekend. My husband and son took me to the drag races down in Charlotte, NC. They had both been before to the races in Bristol but I had to work so finally I had a chance to go see some drag races, in person.

If you have never been before, it is quite an adrenaline rush. I think I'm hooked...

Anyhow, I thought the perfect ending to a perfect weekend deserved something sweet. And if you like cream puffs, then you're gonna love this. This dessert puts a neat little spin on the traditional Cream Puff. It has a light, soft and puffy bottom layer. Followed by a smooth and creamy pudding layer and it is all topped off with whipped cream and a little syrup to make it truly magical.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs, lightly beaten

For the filling:

1 Large Box (5.9 oz) Instant Vanilla Pudding

1 (8oz.) package of cream cheese (softened to room temperature)

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3 cups milk

For the topping:

1 (8oz) tub of Whipped Topping (Cool Whip)

Chocolate Syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F degrees.

In a medium pan, melt butter with water.

Bring to a boil (but don't burn!). Turn off heat. If your burner is staying too hot after you turn it off, just remove the pan from the heat altogether. Add in flour and combine until it looks like a paste.

Add in eggs. Stir mixture until completely combined. This may take a minute or two to get it completely combined.

(Sorry, this one's a bit blurry.)

Spread crust into a 9x13 baking dish. I like to spray my hand with some nonstick spray and then press it down evenly using my hand. It just makes it spread much easier.

Bake crust for 30 minutes. Allow crust to cool completely.

Here's what the finished crust will look like. Sometimes the sides will come up the sides a bit. That's perfectly normal!

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese until smooth. Add in pudding, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until thoroughly combined and mixture begins to thicken (this may take a couple of minutes). If your cream cheese has not come totally to room temperature, it will come out a bit lumpy (like mine.) It does not affect the taste of this dish though.

Pour filling mixture on top of cooled crust and evenly spread.

Spread whipped topping on top of filling.

Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Cover and refrigerate.

Cook's Note: Be sure to purchase the Instant pudding not the Cook and Serve type pudding.

Just thought that I would let you know my husband loves you--well at least he loves your recipes. I love to cook and try new recipes. Lets just say not always with the best results. Since finding your site I have had no complaints. So far I have made fourteen of your recipes and each and everyone has been a hit. So I just wanted to say thank you.

Betty said:Brandie you mentioned 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in the filling ingredients, but you don't mention it in the directions. Is it to be left out? Just wondering what to do before I make it. Sounds delicious.

Oh Wow! what amazing comments! Have I told y'all lately how much I love ya. I really do!! Jeanna, that just warms my heart like you wouldn't believe. I'm just providing the recipes but you are making them and providing the love. And there really is no better ingredient than that!Betty, thank you SO much for pointing that out. Sometimes when you write recipes up, you get to typing it out and forget something. I truly appreciate you picking up on that & letting me know! I've added it in now :)

I just HAVE to try this! It looks amazing!!! I am so happy to have found you over on Tater tots & Jello link party, now your newest follower. You have great recipes on here!-Robyn from http://tipsfromtheheart.blogspot.com

So I just finished baking the crust, but while it was rising the edges climbed over the top of the 9 x 13 and then curled inward towards the middle and slightly burned. Kind of an ocean wave look. Any ideas?

Bonnie, I have no idea what could've happened. There is no rising agent in the crust (like baking powder or baking soda) so it shouldn't have done that. Did you by chance use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose?

I used all purpose flour. Maybe I will try only spraying the bottom of the pan and not the sides. I've had another recipe in the past for which I had to limit the sprayed area because of the same type of problem, but I thought I'd first see if anyone else had this happen. Other than that, it looked like a great recipe!

I have to say, I think I found a new "Best Friend"! I am making the Oreo Poke Cake this weekend! The kids will love it! I was looking through your recipes and every time I find one I like and just know that's the one I want to make, I see another one I want to make just as badly!! LOL Forget dieting! We are going to eat! Thank you for some really awesome recipes!!

Hi Elf! Thank you for your comment. That is a great question! To be honest, I've never tried it so I'm not 100% sure how that would work. It seems like it might work though but you never really know until you try. If you do decide to make it with the puff pastry, I'd love to know how it turns out for you!

WOW I JUST CAME ACROSS THIS SITE AND THE RECIPES GOT MY MOUTH WATERING. I CANNOT WAIT TO MAKE THEM I JUST LOSS 60 LBS ON WEIGHT WATCHERS AND I AM STILL GOING TO MAKE ALL THESE WONDERFUL DESSERTS AND ENJOY THEM OF COURSE IN MODERATION.YUM YUM THANK YOU!!!!!

I am going to repin this it looks delicious, but only because of the drag racing. Lol. I did not think I would like the racing first time we went, I to hooked!! There is absolutely no other sport like it! Now both of my kids drive Jr. Dragsters and have since they were 8, we just returned from Bristol from a week long of Jr drag racing! Maybe I will make your cream puffs and take them to the track! If you ever get the chance Bristol is an AWESOME track!

I should have read the comments first as I also sprayed the sides of the pan and the cream puff base came up the sides of the pan. At least I had it in a foil cake pan and the edges are all scalloped and it looks like i did it on purpose.

Can't wait to make it again. Maybe with chocolate pudding and drizzled white melted chocolate!

Thank you anonymous. I am revising the recipe. I think that spraying on the sides of the pan causes the crust to go up the sides a bit (not that it affects the taste at all). I appreciate all the sweet comments. Glad you like this one!

I also had an issue with the sides rising quite high and pulling inward. Used all purpose flour, and did not use any cooking spray on the pan. Letting it cool now and am planning to kind of "smush" the sides down before I add the pudding mixture. As long as taste is not affected, I'm not much bothered by the appearence.

This looks so good! I love to make cream puffs but they are a lot of work. This recipe looks much easier and sounds absolutely delicious. I have made several of your recipes Brandie and all have been great.I love this site!!!

Keep in mind, it is a Cream Puff dessert so the crust will "puff" up. That's normal! It doesn't affect the tast at all. Jut continue with the rest of the steps. Everything else that goes on top will weight it down. Be sure *not* to spray the pan with nonstick spray. That will cause the crust to crawl up the sides. But if it does, no worry, it does not affect the taste at all. I just leave it on there. However, you could certainly cut off the excess edges if you like. :)

I just made the crust for your delicious looking dessert and not sure what I did different but i didn't have to press it in. The consistency was like a thicker cake batter. The directions were very simple and I followed them to the letter but it was a bit runny. It formed a beautiful pasty ball and then I added the eggs. It became thinned then. Not sure what I did wrong.